Over its last 56 minutes of basketball, UConn has been outscored 112-75. The Huskies blew a 14-point lead at Georgetown, and were never really in it at SMU on Thursday night, the 20-point loss not indicative of just how thoroughly UConn got manhandled.

Much of the blame can be attributed to two of the team’s senior stalwarts, Amida Brimah and Rodney Purvis. And while Brimah has been widely criticized for his inability to stay on the court — he played a combined 21 minutes in the two games, scoring a total of five points — it’s the play of Purvis that has been even more frustrating for UConn’s coaching staff.

More Information

East Carolina at UConn

• When: Sunday, 6 p.m.

• Where: XL Center

• Records: East Carolina 9-10 (1-5 AAC), UConn 7-11 (2-4 AAC)

• TV: CBS Sports Network

• Radio: WTIC-1080

KEEP AN EYE ON

• Tyson KO’d: B.J. Tyson has been ECU’s top scorer in each of his three seasons, averaging 12.5 as a freshman, 14.6 as a sophomore and 11.9 as a junior this year. He also leads the Pirates in assists (53) and steals (53). However, after suffering a knee injury in a Jan. 11 loss against Houston, Tyson is out indefinitely — perhaps for the season, and definitely on Sunday night. The 6-foot-3 guard had averaged 14 points in three career games against the Huskies.

“Without Tyson, I know they are going to pound it down into (7-foot-1 center) Andre Washington a little more,” said Kevin Ollie. “So we’re going to have to play really solid defense on him, and that means keeping Amida (Brimah) out of foul trouble.”

• Block party: Washington, a grad transfer from Wake Forest, is averaging four blocks per game in conference play, tops in the AAC. Brimah is second at 3.2. Washington only blocked 30 shots in 13 non-conference games and ranks second in the AAC (behind Brimah) and 11th in the nation with 2.8 blocks per game.

• Enoch day-to-day: Sophomore forward Steve Enoch sat out Thursday’s loss at SMU due to what’s being called a stress reaction in his right foot and is day-to-day. Enoch sported a walking boot on his foot during the SMU game and didn’t participate in practice on Friday, either.

PROBABLE STARTERS

EAST CAROLINA

Player Pos. PPG

Deng Riak F 2.6

Caleb White G 10.7

Elijah Hughes G 8.6

Kentrell Barkley F 10.8

Andre Washington C 7.3

UCONN

Player Pos. PPG

Jalen Adams G 14.9

Vance Jackson F 8.4

Kentan Facey F 7.9

Rodney Purvis G 12.0

Amida Brimah C 6.8

— David Borges

The fifth-year senior hasn’t scored in double figures in each of the past three games. The SMU game may have been his low point. For the first time this season and just the second time in the past two seasons, Purvis failed to make a single field goal. He went 0-for-4, scoring his only two points on a pair of technical-foul free throws, and even seemed to brush past coach Kevin Ollie at one point during a timeout.

This against the team he boasts his two career-best scoring efforts against, 29 and 28 points, respectively, both in 2015.

“Rodney, all the guys need to step up, play better defense, play hard,” a disappointed Ollie said after the SMU debacle.

UConn (7-11, 2-4 AAC) hopes to halt its two-game skid on Sunday at the XL Center against East Carolina (6 p.m., CBS Sports Network). The Pirates (9-10, 1-5 AAC) will be without two key figures: head coach Jeff Lebo, who has taken a leave of absence following hip surgery on Monday, and leading scorer B.J. Tyson, who suffered a knee injury in a Jan. 11 loss to Houston and could be out for the season.

Longtime assistant Michael Perry takes over as acting head coach in Lebo’s absence.

“Coach Perry has been there quite a while with Coach Lebo, so I don’t see them changing much of what they do,” said Ollie. “Now, Coach Perry might have a little bit of his own wrinkles and they might play with a little bit more freedom, like the kids tend to do with a coaching change. But basically, at this point of the season, I think they will look pretty much the same as they have been.”

The Huskies need to change their look — fast. They certainly need Brimah to avoid foul trouble and stay in games, but they really need Purvis to step up and assert himself as a senior leader, as well. Over his past three games, Purvis is 7-for-24 from the floor and 1-for-11 from 3-point land.

“We need our seniors to step up,” Ollie said after the Georgetown loss. “I can’t have Rodney shooting the ball the way he did. I’ve got to have my seniors play in games like this. They’ve got to step up. They’re playing minutes, and they’ve got to produce. That’s just part of the game.”

There is one senior who has produced. Kentan Facey posted his third double-double of the season against SMU and has been one of the few bright spots this season for UConn. He’s scored in double figures in each of the last three games and is the Huskies’ top rebounder at 7.2 per game.

But UConn’s other two seniors, Purvis and Brimah, simply have to play better.

“We have to play a solid, consistent game,” said Ollie. “We can’t have these ebbs and flows in the game where we play well, then give up a 16-0 run. That just means being a solid team, a connected team. It means when a team goes on a run, we know how to respond in the right way — getting stops and being efficient on the offensive end.”